Month: April 2013

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) constituency, Dr. Stephen Nana Ato Arthur has called for the establishment of a college to enroll and train prison inmates while serving their jail terms.

According to him, the establishment of a college would enable students held in various prisons proceed with their education and also develop skill training which would subsequently shape their lives in the outside world after either serving their long or short serving terms.

The MP disclosed this when commissioning a newly constructed 200 sitting capacity mosque at the Ankaful Main Camp Prison at Ankaful to serve as a meeting place for Muslim inmates.

Hon. Ato Arthur also assured that he will personally raise the issue on the floor of Parliament and campaign for its establishment in every part of the country if was accepted by his other colleague MPs.

Meanwhile, the MP have also distributed fifty (50) streetlight bulbs worth GHs 15,000 to some second cycle and health institution in the in the area.

Some beneficiary institutions according to the MP includes the Elmina and Abirem Health Centers, Equafo Abirem Secondary School among others, adding that the initiative was aimed at improving lighting in the said institutions.

Emmanuel Frimpong Mensah/ GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Ahafo Ano South West, Johnson Kwaku Adu has organized health screening exercise for 150 widows in his constituency.

The event which was held at Mankraso catchment area saw the women go through health checks such as Hepatitis B, checking Sugar Level and Pressure, to ascertain their health status and seek advice on healthy living styles. Additionally the beneficiaries were each given bags of rice and cooking oil.

Speaking to GhanaMPs.gov.gh, Hon. Johnson Kwaku Adu stated that he intends to extend the health exercise to every part of the constituency as a way of ensuring that his people remain healthy so they could work to develop the area.

He disclosed that he has donated 200 bags of cement to be used in constructing kindergarten blocks for some basic schools that lack early childhood educational centres to ensure that children in the area receive the best of early education, while the rest of the building material is used building latrines for areas that lack the basic amenity

Hon. Johnson Kwaku Adu added further that he also donated 30 packets of roofing sheets to be used in roofing the yet to be constructed facilities.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Effutu constituency, Mr. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has asked Ghanaians and critics to exercise restraint in condemning the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority’s (SADA) guinea fowl and afforestation projects.

According to him, officials of SADA have given their implementation plan of how the two projects would be done over time and therefore it would be prudent for Ghanaians to ensure that such projects are implemented successfully.

He stressed that since the authority has fulfilled some of its projects, it must be given the benefit of the doubt to implement the rest of the projects by allowing it to follow through its plans.

Giving a breakdown in the 2013 budget estimates of the office of government machinery, the Financial Committee of Parliament noted that 15 million went into the guinea fowl project, while GH¢32.298 million was spent on afforestation in 2012.

Subsequent to this, some Members of Parliament had demanded that SADA provide evidence of the projects and also justify why such a colossal amount was spent on guinea fowl and afforestation.

But, the MP for Effutu and Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Mr. Afenyo-Markin, who led the charge, told GO yesterday that since SADA had been able to demonstrate some of the projects it had undertaken sine the issue was raised, it would be prudent for critics to allow the authority to follow its implementation plan.

He cited the establishment of Metro Mass Transit (MMT), which received huge criticisms before its implementation, saying that such benefits would not have been realized if the authorities had not been given the chance to implement the policy.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin, however, charged the authority to be proactive in ensuring that benefits of the projects are seen on the ground for the betterment of the people otherwise Ghanaians would continue to criticize their good intentions.

Members of Parliament were deeply divided over whooping GH¢47 million spent by the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) on guinea fowl and afforestation.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin had charged government to be “transparent and consistent” with what the money was used for in terms of equipment, human resources among others.

The MP reiterated that he believed in the need to bridge the development gap between the north and south, however, “we don’t want the government to come and tell us we have done this, we have done that without any evidence”.

But Chief Executive of SADA, Gilbert Iddi, told Accra-based radio station that he was surprised about the questions raised by the MP, saying the MP failed to ask those questions to attract the “appropriate answers” when he appeared before the Finance Committee of Parliament.

Touching on afforestation, Mr. Idi said the project has in partnership with ACI Construction Company given employment to about 50,000 people, and was confident the project would yield dividend.

“I would love to take (Parliamentarians) round to show whether the trees have been planted or not,” he said.

He said 5 million seedlings were grown for the project. On the guinea fowl project, he said, SADA has established a joint venture with Ashongtaba SADA blows GH¢47 million on guinea fowl, afforestation project Cottage Industry, which he said the 15 million was used to acquire 40 percent shares in that venture.

The company contributed GH¢25 million to get a majority share of 60 percent. He said they have so far acquired hatchery, lands and other necessary facilities to implement the project.

“It is to establish farm centres in the five regional capitals in the SADA zone, establish farms in all the regions, establish farms in the district. And the report I have received is that they have so far acquired the lands for all the five regions, they have designed the bill of quantities for the establishment of the houses in order to house the equipment that would do the processing and cold storage of the guinea fowl,” he added.

The Ghanaian Observer

The Member of Parliament for North Dayi, George Loh has said he does not the least envy President John Mahama as his first 100 days in office has been plagued with a lot of challenges which arguably has never been experienced in the life of a new government in Ghana’s political history.

He said President Mahama has not seen any peace as even before he could be sworn in, the opposition New Patriotic Party begun troubling him by challenging his legitimacy at the Supreme Court.

Contributing to a discussion on President Mahama’s first 100 days in office on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show on Monday, Hon. George Loh stated that though the country has witnessed a lot of social agitation in the form of labour unrest and power crises, President Mahama has remained resolute and has efficiently steered the affairs of the country, a feat that is worthy of commendation.

“In spite of all these challenges, the president has not been distracted but has shown the strongman that he is and has managed to form his cabinet to help him govern the country’’ he said.

He said though some people have issues with the way the President shuffled his Regional Ministers to serve in regions they do not come from, he was of the view that that move was positive and will further knit us together as one people.

Hon. George Loh noted that despite that fact that the citizens have not been generally happy with the status quo, the President has managed to get the masses on board in the governance exercise and has comported himself remarkably on both the local and international scenes.

He encouraged Ghanaians to continue reposing their trust in President Mahama as he is poised to improve the living conditions of all citizens by introducing and implementing policies that will yield positive results.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Asante Akim South, Kwaku Asante Boateng has come to the assistance of schools in his constituency in deplorable condition by providing building materials to renovate the facilities.

According to him, the current state of the classroom blocks are in such a bad state that it poses as a threat on the lives of the innocent pupils who study in them.

Speaking to GhanaMPs.gov.gh, Hon. Kwaku Asante Boateng stated that by Friday 19th April he would have distributed 500 bags of cement to be used in rehabilitating the affected buildings as soon as possible, as it would be sad to adopt a nonchalant attitude and see the children die a needless death.

He said after embarking on a thank you tour last week in his constituency which is made up of 146 towns and villages and constitutes about 5% of the total landmass of Ashante Region, it was realized that the major needs of his people were the lack of toilets, electricity and accommodation for teachers posted to the area.

Hon. Kwaku Asante Boateng added teachers who have been posted to schools in his constituencies have had to leave the town few months after arrival, a situation that has impacted negatively on quality of education in the area.

He disclosed that to address this worrying situation he has resolved to build a yet to be decided number of bungalows for the teachers every year until the problem is solved, while the constituents help the construction process through communal labour.

Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

Nana Ato Arthur Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abram (KEEA) constituency, on Friday advocated the establishment of a college to enroll prison inmates in the country.

He said such a college would enable students serving jail terms to continue with their education to improve upon their knowledge and skills which would enhance their lives outside the prison.

Dr. Arthur said this on Friday at the inauguration of a newly constructed mosque at the Ankaful Main Camp Prison at Ankaful near Elmina, to serve as a place of worship for Muslims held in prison.

The mosque, which has a seating capacity of about 200, was built by the authorities of the Prisons with sponsorship from Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim of Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services (ICODEHS).

Dr Arthur promised to introduce the idea in Parliament and said if it was accepted he would personally champion its establishment.

Madam Matilda Baffour-Awuah, Acting Director General of Prisons Service, said the new vision of the Service was to foster private and public partnership – a phenomenon she believed would give it the advantage to enter into strategic partnerships.

She said the Service would focus on areas like agriculture and industries where there abound a lot of benefits, including the acquisition of knowledge and skills by the inmates and generation of revenues to expand the frontiers of their reformation and rehabilitation mandate.

Madam Baffour-Awuah commended Sheikh Ibrahim for the gesture and pointed out that the Prison Service had always cherished the partnership with religious bodies, which she noted was the area of bringing spiritual upliftment and hope to the prison inmates since “through religion one could see change that stems from the heart”.

She encouraged the inmates and others, who would be worshiping in the mosque, to hold the place with the highest of reverence and commitment to practice true worship and urged the inmates to lend themselves to the instructions of their religious’ leaders and officers so that they would be well prepared for re-entry into society upon their release.

Mr. Leopold Kwame Amoah Ansah, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Officer In-charge of the Prisons, called on the public to see prison inmates just like everyone else outside the walls of the prison and that prisoners were not the irretrievable and vicious elements people perceived them to be.

He said there was a lot of hope in the Service and that if the society gave it the necessary support and resources to support its educational and vocational training programmes, it would be able to impact positively on the inmates’ skills and knowledge.

Mr. Ansah noted that if the inmates were given the requisite skills and knowledge, it would help them to become independent, resettled and get reintegrated into the society and contribute meaningfully towards national development.

He said it was the hope of the Service that the inmates committed themselves faithfully to the significance and purpose of the mosque and allowed the will of Allah to prevail so that they would have a better life.

Mr. Ansah appealed to Sheikh Ibrahim to assist the Prison Camp to dig a borehole to help address the water supply needs of the Ankaful prisons.

Sheik Ibrahim unveiled the plague and dedicated the mosque to the Almighty Allah.